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Re: SECOND Dallas Hospital Worker Tests Positive for Ebola

Originally Posted by donsutherland1

I don't have issues with reporting on the situation. But the reporting should stick strictly with the facts and avoid speculation. At the same time, media stories should provide key information e.g., on how the virus is spread, because many Americans don't know that it is not transmitted airborne unlike, for example, influenza. Hence, many assume that the 132 passengers and flight crew are at genuine risk of contracting Ebola. In fact, the risk is probably extremely to very low given how the virus is spread. Additional cases are more likely among the health care workers who treated the Ebola patient in Dallas given the initial lack of adequate equipment and training to deal with such cases.

You may be right, however in your previous post it said the virus can exist on material which means if she sneezed or spit saliva on or around her plane seat, the next person sitting in that seat can get infected, but they are not looking at that.

Re: SECOND Dallas Hospital Worker Tests Positive for Ebola

Originally Posted by MMC

Heya Lady P .....truthfully he had no choice. When the CDC Director is saying he is hearing from Hospitals and medical people all across the country that they are not prepared nor trained. Especially after the CDC asked people to call them that were on that flight with Vinson. As the CDC could have used the manifest and got to all of those people.....johnny on the spot. Then BO has to show some leadership. Like you said.....its his Team.

If he is inept, even though he is a doctor, then he should be replaced. It's just that the whole handling of this thing, from the very beginning, doesn't feel right to me - gut-feeling wise!

Re: SECOND Dallas Hospital Worker Tests Positive for Ebola

Originally Posted by j-mac

And could in the end cost someone their life. Why wouldn't we do all we can to prevent that, including measures like restricting travel?

Part of the problem is that the U.S. almost certainly had no strategy for dealing with Ebola's arrival in the U.S. A series of reactive measures in a bid to catch up with events is not a substitute for strategy.

That the U.S. has not always handled outbreaks very effectively in the past e.g., the 1976 Swine Flu scare, made it even more imperative that the U.S. develop a plan that would outline among other things the messaging to minimize the risk of panic, emphasis on communicating only facts and on a regular basis, establish an approach for dealing with any cases that might emerge in the U.S. (higher risk than in the past due to the global nature of transportation), identify people responsible for overseeing key tasks tied to that national strategy, establishing a mechanism to identify and correct emergent problems, and creating a small body to lay out scenarios (including a worst-case one where Ebola takes hold in the U.S. and an epidemic spreads at a rate similar to what was happening in Africa, even as such an outcome would be a low probability scenario) and draft contingency plans to deal with those scenarios, etc.

There was plenty of time to develop a coordinated national response plan. The 2014 outbreak was first reported by the World Health Organization on March 23, when the WHO revealed:

The Ministry of Health (MoH) of Guinea has notified WHO of a rapidly evolving outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in forested areas of south-eastern Guinea. As of 22 March 2014, a total of 49 cases including 29 deaths (case fatality ratio: 59%) had been reported.

In short, the absence of a national strategy was far more a leadership issue than a time or resource matter. In the context of the current political races, while I don't think candidates should stir panic, I do think it is fair to raise the question as to why the nation was caught by surprise and didn't have a response plan for the event that Ebola reached the U.S.

Re: SECOND Dallas Hospital Worker Tests Positive for Ebola

Originally Posted by Mason66

You may be right, however in your previous post it said the virus can exist on material which means if she sneezed or spit saliva on or around her plane seat, the next person sitting in that seat can get infected, but they are not looking at that.

Given what's known about the transmission of Ebola, a more accurate media portrayal would have been that a tiny number of passengers or flight crew members might be at risk.

Right now, there remains no reason for panic. But work remains to be done to ensure that the risk of such a situation is minimized and the need for such work likely extends to the CDC, if this news report is accurate.

Nurse: "I took care of the Ebola guy who died and now I'm sick. Can i fly on a plane?"
CDC: "It's fine"

Re: SECOND Dallas Hospital Worker Tests Positive for Ebola

I believe them.
That's why Duncan was sent home, and the information about him coming from Liberia didn't get any traction.
The second time he went to the hospital, he was sitting in ER for several hours. They didn't know what to do!